macaco

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈkeɪkəʊ/, /məˈkɑːkoʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Portuguese macaco (“monkey”). Doublet of macaque.

Noun

macaco (plural macacos or macacoes)

1. A macaque, or similar monkey.

Etymology 2

From French mococo, probably ultimately from Malagasy maka, maki (“lemur”).

An illustration from 1788 of a ring-tailed lemur, then known as the ring-tailed maca(u)co.

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• macauco, maucaco

Noun

macaco (plural macacos or macacoes)

1. (obsolete) Any of several species of lemur, including the white-headed lemur, ruffed lemur, and ring-tailed lemur.

Derived terms

• ring-tailed macaco, ring-tailed macauco
• crowned macauco

Anagrams

• Cocama, accoma

Italian

Alternative forms

• macacco

Etymology

From Portuguese macaco, possibly from a Bantu language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈka.ko/
• Rhymes: -ako
• Hyphenation: ma‧cà‧co

Noun

macaco m (plural macachi)

1. macaque
2. fool, dunce

Mirandese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

macaco (plural macacos)

1. monkey
2. a person that imitates others
3. a treacherous, deceitful person

References

• “macaco” in Amadeu Ferreira, José Pedro Cardona Ferreira, Dicionário Mirandês-Português, 1st edition, 2004.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈka.ku/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈka.ku/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /maˈka.ko/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐˈka.ku/

• Rhymes: -aku
• Hyphenation: ma‧ca‧co

Etymology 1

macaco (sense 1)

macaco (sense 1)

Unknown. Thought to have been borrowed from a Bantu language. Bantu maka, "cat", comes from -mañga (an old East African Bantu word for the sea-coast, often applied to any strange or foreign product). But it seems unlikely that the Bantu would have used such a word to denote familiar animals like apes and monkeys. However, none of the many Bantu words for apes and monkeys resembles "macaco". Other suggested derivations include:

• from Kongo makaku (“monkeys”)
• from a language of Madagascar (compare macaco, macauco, maucaco (“any of several lemurs”), perhaps related to maky);
• from Kari'na macaca (“simian”), though it may have been loaned into Galibi from a language of African slaves;
• from dialectal French macao (“cat; monkey; long-tailed monkey”), allegedly used in Normandy and Berry.
• from Spanish muchacho;
• from Macau +‎ -aco.

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos, feminine macaca, feminine plural macacas)

2. monkey; ape

   Synonyms: símio, mono

3. (derogatory) ape; savage (an uncivilised or unruly person)

   Synonyms: bárbaro, selvagem

4. (derogatory) monster; freak (a hideous person)

   Synonyms: monstro, aberração, mostrengo

5. (Brazil, offensive, ethnic slur) monkey (derogatory term for a black person)

Usage notes

• A distinction is not commonly made between apes and monkeys in Portuguese. Where it is, mono is used for apes and macaco for middle-sized simians. A more common distinction is made between macacos and micos (“small, long-tailed simians”).

Derived terms

• cada macaco no seu galho
• ir pentear macacos
• macacada
• macacagem
• macacal
• macacão
• macacar
• macaco velho
• macaco-aranha
• macaco-barrigudo
• macaco-da-noite
• macaco-de-nariz-branco
• macaco-esquilo
• macaco-gritador
• macaco-inglês
• macaco-japonês
• macaco-leão
• macaco-prego
• macaco-vervet
• macacoa
• macacos me mordam
• macaquear
• macaqueiro
• macaquice
• macaquinho
• pente-de-macaco
• Rei Macaco

 

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: macaco
• → English: macaco
• → French: macaque
  • Haitian Creole: makak
  • → Bulgarian: макак (makak)
  • → English: macaque
  • → German: Makake
  • → Romanian: macac
• → Italian: macaco
• → Spanish: macaco

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos)

2. jack (device for raising and supporting a heavy object)

Descendants

• → Hunsrik: Makack

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

macaco

1. first-person singular present indicative of macacar

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese macaco, possibly from a Bantu language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈkako/ [maˈka.ko]
• Rhymes: -ako
• Syllabification: ma‧ca‧co

Noun

macaco m (plural macacos)

1. macaque
2. hobgoblin, bogeyman
3. (South America, derogatory, offensive, racist) Brazilian

   Synonyms: brasileño, (colloquial) brasilero

4. (Louisiana) monkey

   Synonyms: mono, chango, maimón, mico, simio

Adjective

macaco (feminine macaca, masculine plural macacos, feminine plural macacas)

1. (slang) ugly, misshapen, deformed, squat

Further reading

• “macaco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10